If you play infrequently, with very little or no aerobic exercise otherwise, the constant soreness could be your muscles repeatedly breaking down and trying to get themselves in shape. If you play once, then take five days off, then play, it could just create a cycle of the body trying to get in shape over and over again.

For me, if I haven't been able to play for a while, there's certainly soreness. But if I play through it, it dissipates over time and my body adjusts. With basketball being such a high energy activity, it kind of requires a person to keep their body in a high energy state in order to ward off soreness. That's why, the more intense level of athletic activity is involved, the easier it is for one's muscles to atrophy via neglect.